i dont want to rate these cams. they're good for what they're good for. if you want one set of cams, forget these things. more trouble than they're worth for a primary rack, IMHO. however, if you're looking to beef things up they're alright. sure are cheap and light, and they do work in *most* places. my biggest problems with them are the short stem (tricky for deep placements) and the slippery tiny thumb stud, which is finicky to get your hand on when you're gripped, compared to a friendly loop like the trango or BD cams.

i hate these things. ive used a lot of them in the free climbing sizes (yellow, red, etc). they're too short so you can't place them deep and still clean them easily. the lobes are thin so less contact with rock. the stems are so flexible that if they get gummy or bent out of shape you will bend the stem instead of retracting the cams. the trigger wires are finicky and constantly get bent into lobes and each other causing weirdness and badness. the trigger bar is too darn tiny. ive heard the new version will have a bigger trigger car and longer stem, but i still woudlnt buy them for free climbing. the only people i know who have them were either dazed and confused when they bought them, and wish they hadnt, or they are euros who just cant get their hands on aliens to save their life. if you're freeclimbing spend the money on aliens instead, ok? or trangos. or metolius TCUs.

id give it a 4.5 if i could. and no device ive ever owned would get a 5. i use this because it is both versatile and light. i appreciate the autoblock mode, and dont mind bringing an extra biner for belaying doubles or two seconds. i have no idea why people care so much about that detail. it feeds smoothly and quickly and for normal use it locks off fine. on very slippery ropes or with enormous people and without gloves it feels a little insecure lowering leaders or at the bottom of rappels. when im belaying *big* people i carry a jaws device too. for multipitch, i like this better than the atc by far. its effortless to load even stiff fat ropes into the slots. with old stiff ropes, or very dirty ropes, it can be very difficult to haul the rope through the device in autoblock mode (but its the same with the reverso, i find). one thing i found helped with this a lot is to suspend the device from the anchor with a small biner, like a little BD locker or the like, instead of a fat round stock belay biner (so there is more room in the slot for the rope). of course, use a round stock belay biner for the brake biner and that will ease autoblock friction too. great device. my favorite.

buy these up while they're still available. they're discontinued. these are my favorite belay biners. unlike most of the world, apparently, i love the spinball for rockclimbing. for me its as fast as a screw, but without any of the mess. no getting stuck shut. no getting stuck open. no inadvertent spinning of the gate screw and locking it onto my gear loops by mistake. you can turn the spinball either way to unlock it. if it gets gummy you can clean it with little fuss. and the gate locker wont get spun open by a rope or munter pushing on the gate. ive abused mine for years and no broken parts. the mechanism is finally getting a little more tricky to spin, but the grooves are starting to show so im moving onto the next one anyway. wish they still made 'em. (edit.. i dont like this in very dusty areas like indian creek where the sand gets in the mechanism and makes it very hard to use. indian creek is the only area ive had consistent problems with it, though, and i get out a lot..)

my favorite shoes, of many many pairs. absolutely great shoes for thin face, thin hand and larger cracks, etc. with the new rubber they friction as well as the 5.10 rubber, although thats not a scientific observation. i had my pair resoled by evolve once and they might as well have been new. and you're not just buying a climbing shoe, you're buying the best customer service in the gear industry. brian is every bit as solid as they say he is. my only complaint is that the synthetic leather wears through faster than real leather- i wore a faint hole in a new pair of these in just a couple weeks in indian creek. however, i did climb in another pair for a year with no holes- just didnt spend nearly as much time jamming my foot in a crack. anyways, its a moot point. you can get a patch glued on at the factory and it will never wear through, or you can shoe glue it when it goes, or you can not wear through it in the first place, like most people. much ado about nothing. the advantages of the synthetic leather outweigh all disadvantages in my book. great shoes. ill buy pair after pair.